Generally described, gas turbine engines combust a mixture of compressed air and compressed fuel to produce hot combustion gases. The hot combustion gases may flow through one or more turbine stages to drive a load and/or a compressor. A pressure drop may occur between stages. The pressure drop may promote a flow of fluid, such as bucket or blade cooling air, to leak through unintended paths. As a result, cover plates may be disposed about the turbine wheels so as to reduce the leakage flow therethrough.
Known cover plates are generally retained by the buckets with grooved appendages thereon. Tabs or pins may be used to retain the cover plate thereon. These small retention features, however, may make it difficult to assemble or disassemble the cover plate. As such, known cover plates may be time consuming to install and/or replace.
There is thus a desire for an improved turbine cover plate design and methods of installing the same. The cover plate preferably will provide effective sealing so as to reduce cooling air leakage and therefore improve overall system efficiency and performance.